Category: blogging

‘The Devil You Don’t’ – A beta reader’s view

It could be said that of all the women one could meet, whether contrived or by sheer luck, what are the odds it would turn out to be the woman who was being paid a very large sum to kill you.

John Pennington is a man who may be lucky in business, but not so lucky in love. He has just broken up with Phillipa Sternhaven, the woman he thought was the one, but relatives and circumstances, and perhaps because she was a ‘princess’, may also have contributed to the end result.

So, what do you do when you are heartbroken?

That is a story that slowly unfolds, from the first meeting with his nemesis on Lake Geneva, all the way to a hotel room in Sorrento, where he learns the shattering truth.

What should have been solace after disappointment, turns out to be something else entirely, and from that point, everything goes to hell in a handbasket.

He suddenly realizes his so-called friend Sebastian has not exactly told him the truth about a small job he asked him to do, the woman he is falling in love with is not quite who she says she is, and he is caught in the middle of a war between two men who consider people becoming collateral damage as part of their business.

The story paints the characters cleverly displaying all their flaws and weaknesses. The locations add to the story at times taking me back down memory lane, especially to Venice where, in those back streets I confess it’s not all that hard to get lost.

All in all a thoroughly entertaining story with, for once, a satisfying end.

…

Available on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/2Xyh1ow

…

In a word: Flight

There is a saying, if God wanted us to fly then he would have given us wings.

Unfortunately, he didn’t, so we do not get to know what it’s like to be in flight,

Unless…

We take an aeroplane, which usually has a flight number such as QF607, or in conversation, ‘I’ll be taking the 6 o’clock flight’.

If someone runs away, then we say they have taken flight.

If we roll back a few years, say about 80, to World War 2, flight tales on a whole new meaning.

It refers to a group of planes, in one case a number of spitfires, or,

The man in charge, a flight lieutenant, also colloquially known as ‘flight’.

This is not be confused with the word flite which has several very obscure meanings,

First, it means to quarrel or argue, or engage in a debate, and

Second, to make a complaint.

But one that sticks in my my mind is Flyte, from Brideshead Revisited.  they were a very interesting family.

The cinema of my dreams – I always wanted to see the planets – Episode 10

Now, that was unexpected…

…

Like everyone who was in that artificially silent environment that was the flight deck of a shuttle, unexpected sounds caused unexpected results.

The Engineer cursed.

The Pilot, Myrtle, hesitated for a moment, as if not quite sure what to do, highlighting the fact she had not been in such a situation before, but quickly recovered, and brought up the incoming object on screen.

Note to self: amend the training program to allow for random objects to come out of nowhere.

We all looked at the object. Myrtle should have been taking us into the freighter, but had got overawed by the not easily identifiable ship approaching.

“Our ship will take care of the problem,” I said. “Take us into the freighter.”

As if surprised that she should be asked to do so, she realised it was not her job to be staring at the screen, and muttered, “Oh, yes,” before resuming our passage.

Another note to self: Proper command structures and language should be used at all times.

A minute or so later we were in the cargo bay and the cargo doors were closing. Once closed and the atmosphere adjusted, the deck would become a hive of activity.

There was still a static picture of the craft on the screen, and it was one I’d seen before, an old vessel that dated back over a hundred years. I’d seen it in a space museum on the moon.

I was tempted to ask the Captain what was happening, but knew that to interrupt would not be worth the reprimand.

The engineer had seen one before too. “You don’t see those craft very often, if at all. Or this far out in space. They only had a limited trave distance, didn’t they?”

“Unless someone had been tinkering.” Several had been built as exploration ships, but the majority were freighters, used to build the outer colonies on the nearest planets.

A new drive would enable it to travel to the outer rim of our galaxy, but not much further if there were no readily available fuel supplies. Those that were available were tightly regulated by space command.

Cargo doors closed, deck pressurised, suddenly the whole deck was alive with people and machinery, our people meeting with the freighter crew and arranging for the cargo for Venus to be loaded. Myrtle was to stay with the shuttle, monitoring the loading.

I went down the ramp and was greeted by the first officer of the freighter, a chap I’d once served with, Jacko Miles. Jacko loved being in space, but no longer interested in the machinations of Space Command. The simple life of a freighter first officer was all he desired.

Except his face, right now, had the visual lines of worry.

“What happened?” We were past the usual introductions, and general bonhomie.

“Stopped, boarded, and a crate removed.”

“What was in the crate?”

“No one is saying, but whatever it was, it must have been important to attack us for it.”

My private communicator vibrated in my pocket. The captain was calling, and didn’t want anyone else listening in.

“Just give me a moment,” I said taking the communicator out of my pocket and answering the call. “Yes sir?”

“We have a problem.”

And in that moment, I had to agree with him. Jacko now had his hands in the air, and behind him were two people with handheld weapons trained on him, and me.

…

© Charles Heath 2021-2022

A photograph from the inspirational bin – 10

It was a relic from the past, put back together by a dedicated group of volunteers who had not wanted the last vestiges of the past to disappear.

Train enthusiasts, the called themselves.

They’d put together a steam locomotive, five carriages, a restaurant car, and the conductor’s car. The original train might have been twice to three times as long, but these days, the tourist market rarely filled the train.

I was one of a group who made it their mission to visit and rate every vintage train, not only in this country, but all over the world. It was a sad state of affairs when I first began, with locomotives and carriages dropping out of the system due to lack of funds, but more disheartening, the lack of government assistance in keeping it’s heritage alive.

It seemed money was short, and there were better things to spend it on, like two brand new 737-800 jets just to ferry the prime minister and government officials around. Just think of what that quarter of a billion dollars could have bought in heritage.

But it is what it is.

What I had before me was one of the most recent restorations to check out, and on first glance, it was remarkable just how lifelike and true to age it was.

Of course, I was of an age that could remember the old railway carriages, what were called red rattlers because of the ill fitting windows that went up and down, allow fresh air, or in days gone by, smoke from the locomotive hauling the train. I had not travelled during the last glorious years of steam, but the carriages had lived on briefly before the advent of the sterile aluminum tin cans with uncomfortably hard seats.

These carriages were built for comfort, and my first experience had been a five hour trip from Melbourne to Wangaratta, in Victoria, on my way to Mt Buffalo Chalet, a guesthouse owned by the Railways.

That too had been a remarkable old chalet style guest house with a room and all the dining included. I always left after the week having put on weight. Breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner, every day, and high tea on Sunday.

But this carriage, the polished wood that had shellac rather than varnish, highlighting the timber’s grain, the leather seats with generous padding, the curved ceilings with hanging lights, windows the could be opened and closed, allowing fresh air to circulate.

There was also a carriage with the passageway, and five or six separate compartments, each sitting six passengers. I remembered these well, having quite often ridden in one to work for some years when the country trains still ran.

It was always remarkable how a sight or a scent could trigger such memories.

For this carriage on this train, it used to ply the Gympie to Brooloo branch line from about 1915 onwards.

That was the history. It only went as far as Amamoor these days, it was still long enough to capture the sensation of riding the rails back in what is always referred to as the good old days, even if they were not.

Now for the ride….

…

© Charles Heath 2021

Writing a book in 365 days – 116/117

Days 116 and 117

Secondary characters – Writing exercise

Relation to protagonist, are they trusted, dialogue differences, what is their purpose, one thing to remember them…

…

There were a few years of animosity between Alan and Jay.  And a healthy dose of resentment.

Alan was the eldest son and, as such, should have commanded some respect and, to be fair, had been treated very well.

Until Jay was born.

It didn’t matter that Mary had popped up in between them, except that she would always be their mother’s favourite.

But from the moment Jay arrived, he had commanded all the oxygen in any room he walked into.  He could do no wrong, not even when he was deliberately bad.  And no matter what Alan did, he was always wrong, or jealous, or worse, very childish.

Alan suffered it until he could leave, which was the day after he turned 18.  He simply put what he needed into his backpack, and left for work as he did every Thursday evening, went to the bus station and took the night express to anywhere that far away from what had ceased to be his home.

Over the next five or so years, Alan kept his head down and kept himself to himself, having learned the hard way that he could not rely on anyone other than himself.

He was largely a product of his experiences, and if or when anyone asked him anything about his life, he simply said he had been orphaned in his teens, bounced around the system until he was old enough to leave and make his own way.

He finished high school.  There was no possibility of going to college. His grades and finances precluded both.  He’d initially worked as a busboy and worked his way up to waiter.  He had applied to the police academy, but they had not even deigned to write back one way or another.

Perhaps it was not in his destiny.

As for home, he had only a passing interest.  There had not been one word about his departure, and endless news about the golden boy Jay.  Basketball champ, football champ, swimming champ, Prom King, and graduated top of the class.

Of course he would.

He was everything that Alan wasn’t.  He was the pride and joy of his parents.  And in that whole article about him, there was not one word about the other son.  It was like he didn’t exist.

On the seventh anniversary of Alan’s departure, the family sat around the table as they did every Sunday.  The morning visit to the church for another of Pastor Bill’s illuminating sermons, then back home for lunch.

Those occasions after Alan left were introspective, where everyone had an opinion as to why he left.  Only Mary knew why he had gone, and where, a secret she shared with the Sheriff when her parents had requested his assistance in finding out what happened to him.

Oddly, no one believed he had become a victim of foul play, but equally oddly, no one but Mary could see that their treatment of him was going to always lead to only one eventuality.

Three times, Alan’s mother secretly hired a private detective to find him.  Three times, the detective came back to tell them he had disappeared without a trace.  Only Mary knew that on the last occasion, after telling him what she knew, he found her brother, and in accordance with her wishes, he told them one thing but gave Mary a slip of paper with her brother’s address.

That had been three days ago.

Now, sitting at the table, looking at the feast, waiting for her father to say grace.  He was at one end, her mother at the opposite end, and Jay was sitting opposite her.

It had taken every one of those seven years to hate him as much as her older brother, but for different reasons.  Jay was evil.  It was as simple as that, a boy without a conscience and no scruples whatsoever.

She, too, would have left before now, but her mother was ailing, and she couldn’t leave her, not with Jay, who wouldn’t care about her, and a father who doted more on his son than his wife.

She looked over towards her and could see she was unwell.  The latest visit to the doctor wasn’t good news.  Not knowing where Alan was only made matters worse.

“I want Alan to come home,” she said suddenly, in a tone that had more fire in it than usual.  The latest report from the detective had reduced her to tears.

“Why?” Jay muttered.  “He was a spineless moron, and showed his true colours when he left, without so much as a by your leave.”

“You think?”  Mary said, glaring at him.

“What’s your beef?”

His smug look annoyed her.  She had discovered he did nothing but trash his brother’s name to anyone who would listen.

“Tell us why Bonny went to the sheriff’s office, Jay?”

Wendy, a friend of Sally, who was a friend of Ada who worked in the sherries office, had confided that Bonny, Jay’s latest girlfriend, or if the rumours were right, ex-girlfriend, had complained that he had assaulted her.  Mary suspected it was more than just ‘assault’.

Their mother switched her glare from Jay to her husband.  “What have you two done now?”

Exactly the result Mary wanted.  Jay was looking very guilty.

“It’s just a misunderstanding,” Jay muttered, suddenly standing up, sending his chair crashing backwards.  “If this is going to be another bitch session, I’ve got better things to do.  He’s gone, get over it.”

With that said, he stomped out, slamming the door behind him.

“Now look what you’ve done,” her father said. 

“No, Jack.  This is all your fault.  If you had disciplined him years ago, we wouldn’t be here.  Whatever he’s done this time, you’re not going to smooth it over.”

He simply shook his head and followed his son out the door.

Mary reached over and took her mother’s hand in hers.  She could see the tears welling in her eyes.  Jay had finally torn their family apart.

“We’re going on a road trip.  We need to spend time together away from this place.  They can fend for themselves for a few days.”

“Where?”

“It’ll be our secret.  Go throw a few things in a bag, enough for a week or so.  We’re going now.”

“What about…”

“They can clean it up or wallow in it.  You’ve done enough for the ungrateful pigs.  It’s time they did something for you.”

It took Mary a day on the road to finally coax the truth out of her mother.  A secret so devastating that she cried all night. Cancer.  Inoperable.  And six months, perhaps a year.  Mary knew it was bad, just not this bad.

The next morning, after getting back on the road and then stopping at a diner for coffee and apple pie, Mary told her where they were going.

The change in her mother was instant and brought her back to life, the slow descent into despair suddenly arrested.

“I thought…”

“I spoke to the detective this time and told him what I knew.  I figured that Alan never wanted any of us to know where he went, but there were clues which I kept to myself, and he did tell me why he left, and swore me to secrecy.  I don’t think I need to tell you, you’re smart enough to realise what drove him away.  I heard from him a few weeks after he left to tell me he was safe, that it was best not to try and find him, and he was not coming home.”

“Were you going to tell me?  Us?”

“Not Dad or Jay.  They can live in blissful ignorance.  Besides, they’re about to find themselves in a whole world of pain.  But in your case, I had decided on a road trip later, but seeing you yesterday, I realised that I couldn’t wait.  And knowing what we know, I’m glad we’re doing it now.”

“Are you sure he will be where the detective said?  Or that he will want to see me, or you?”

“That’s why I have to initially go by myself.  I know he will be surprised to see me, and when I explain the circumstances, he will agree to see you.”

“Perhaps he might be annoyed with me not trying to reach out earlier than this?”

“I think if he wanted to see you, he knew where you lived.  It might not be you personally that kept him away, but to be fair, you didn’t stop Jay.”

“No.  You’re right.  I didn’t.  For a long time, I didn’t have the courage, and now that I have, I hope it’s not too late to right that wrong.  I’ve decided I’m not going back. I don’t want to spend my last days on God’s earth with either of them.”

…

©  Charles Heath  2025

The cinema of my dreams – I always wanted to go on a treasure hunt – Episode 13

Here’s the thing…

Every time I close my eyes, I see something different.

I’d like to think the cinema of my dreams is playing a double feature but it’s a bit like a comedy cartoon night on Fox.

But these dreams are nothing to laugh about.

Once again there’s a new instalment of an old feature, and we’re back on the treasure hunt.

…

I stood at the entrance and counted to ten, then pushed the door open and went in.

I was not sure what I was expecting, but it was not what I saw.  A country and western bar, with decorations that made you think you were in Texas, booths and tables elegantly set under subdued lighting, and well dressed serving staff serving customers.

Across the back was a long bar, and a bottle of every known drink known to mankind behind it, and two bartenders, looking busy.  Several people were sitting at the bar, including Nadia, who was by herself, having a shot glass, no doubt with tequila, and beer put in front of her.

No one even looked up to note my arrival.

It took a minute to scan the customers I could see, and not recognise any of them, except they were not of the scoundrel variety, and whether or not there was another exit if I needed one.

Always an emergency exit near the restrooms and I could see them in the distance.

Another look around, then I crossed the room, weaving through the tables, to where Nadia was sitting.  She hadn’t noticed my arrival.

“This seat taken?” I asked.

A quick turn of the head and I could see the rebuke on her lips.  Then surprise on her face.

“Smidge.  What are you doing here?”

“You keep asking me that question every time we meet.”

“Perhaps we should stop meeting like this.”  She turned back to the bar and downed the shot glass contents.  “Sit if you must.”

I had expected the back of her hand to slap me to the floor for daring to talk to her, but instead sat before she changed her mind.

“Same question,” she said, still not looking at me.

I’d try flippancy first and see how that went.  “Always wanted to come and see the famous Lantern Inn, but it doesn’t seem to be famous any more, well, not in that respect.”

She looked sideways at me.  “What if it had been?”

“Then I’m guessing this would have been a short encounter.”

“It still might be.”

OK, try not to be too brave, she could still beat me to a pulp with one hand tied behind her back.  “I doubt you want to cause a scene, and especially not with someone like me.”

She turned and looked at me.  Admittedly I was not the skinny assed punk I used to be, but still not her type.

“When did you go and grow up?”  At least, now, she didn’t tower over me, I could see eye to eye, literally and figuratively.

“While you were away.  Amazing what some sunshine and fertilizer will do.”

Was that a hint of a smile, or a grimace?

“Still a smart ass though.”

“You haven’t changed much either.”  Short skirt, low cut top, she’d been wearing a coat when she came in.  Hair was shorter and with a fringe.  Didn’t suit her.  “What happened to this place?”

“The last Mayor cleaned up the waterfront, most of it anyway.”

And died, rather ironically, in the crossfire between the two rival gangs in this very place.  Nothing like killing a public official, corrupt or not, to precipitate a cleanup.  It just sent the gangs into darker corners.

“Why are you here, then?”  I had to ask.

“I’m respectable.”  A nod to the bartended got another shot of tequila.

For me, a Budweiser.

“So does that mean you’re dating a Benderby?”  For her, it would be the only type of respectability she could have in a town like ours unless she moved away to somewhere no one knew who she was.

“Not if they were the last family on earth.”

“So, what’s he got on you?”

She turned much faster this time to look at me, sliding off the chair and standing over me.  There was not a pretty look on her face.

I tried not to exhibit signs of fear and failed.

“Who told you that?”

“No one.”  I took a deep breath to get the tremor out of my voice.  “They got the dirt on everyone, so why should you be an exception?”

I slipped of my chair and stood toe to toe with her.

For a person with an ugly soul, she had beautiful eyes.

Then she leaned forward those last six inches and kissed me briefly on the lips.  Hers was cold.

“What do you really want Smidge?”  She pulled back, and sat down again, picking up the beer and taking a sip.

“To get payback on Alex.”

“And you think I’ll help you?”

“Well, you need a map, and I don’t think you want to cosy up to Rico, do you?”

I had just put together a plan, shaky at best, highly dangerous at worst, but it might work.  It didn’t have to be the real map, just one that was close enough to the real thing.

She reached into her purse and pulled out a key, and slid it across the bar towards me.

Room 14 at the Shingle Hotel.   Where they used to have rooms to rent by the hour.  And cockroaches, people not the bugs, in every corner.

“One hour.  Now leave.”

I heard the door open and close and looked back through the mirror behind the bar.  A large man with a beard and dark glasses.  In a gloomy restaurant.

Her date?

I took the key and left, trying to look like I was not leaving in a hurry.

© Charles Heath 2019-2021

An excerpt from “Sunday in New York”

Now available on Amazon at:  https://amzn.to/2H7ALs8

…

Williams’ Restaurant, East 65th Street, New York, Saturday, 8:00 p.m.

We met the Blaine’s at Williams’, a rather upmarket restaurant that the Blaine’s frequently visited, and had recommended.

Of course, during the taxi ride there, Alison reminded me that with my new job, we would be able to go to many more places like Williams’.  It was, at worst, more emotional blackmail, because as far as Alison was concerned, we were well on our way to posh restaurants, the Trump Tower Apartments, and the trappings of the ‘executive set’.

It would be a miracle if I didn’t strangle Elaine before the night was over.  It was she who had filled Alison’s head with all this stuff and nonsense.

Aside from the half frown half-smile, Alison was looking stunning.  It was months since she had last dressed up, and she was especially wearing the dress I’d bought her for our 5th anniversary that cost a month’s salary.  On her, it was worth it, and I would have paid more if I had to.  She had adored it, and me, for a week or so after.

For tonight, I think I was close to getting back on that pedestal.

She had the looks and figure to draw attention, the sort movie stars got on the red carpet, and when we walked into the restaurant, I swear there were at least five seconds silence, and many more gasps.

Even I had a sudden loss of breath earlier in the evening when she came out of the dressing room.  Once more I was reminded of how lucky I was that she had agreed to marry me.  Amid all those self-doubts, I couldn’t believe she had loved me when there were so many others ‘out there’ who were more appealing.

Elaine was out of her seat and came over just as the Head Waiter hovered into sight.  She personally escorted Alison to the table, allowing me to follow like the Queen’s consort, while she and Alison basked in the admiring glances of the other patrons.

More than once I heard the muted question, “Who is she?”

Jimmy stood, we shook hands, and then we sat together.  It was not the usual boy, girl, boy, girl seating arrangement.  Jimmy and I on one side and Elaine and Alison on the other.

The battle lines were drawn.

Jimmy was looking fashionable, with the permanent blade one beard, unkempt hair, and designer dinner suit that looked like he’d slept in it.  Alison insisted I wear a tuxedo, and I looked like the proverbial penguin or just a thinner version of Alfred Hitchcock.

The bow tie had been slightly crooked, but just before we stepped out she had straightened it.  And took the moment to look deeply into my soul.  It was one of those moments when words were not necessary.

Then it was gone.

I relived it briefly as I sat and she looked at me.  A penetrating look that told me to ‘behave’.

When we were settled, Elaine said, in that breathless, enthusiastic manner of hers when she was excited, “So, Harry, you are finally moving up.”  It was not a question, but a statement.

I was not sure what she meant by ‘finally’ but I accepted it with good grace.  Sometimes Elaine was prone to using figures of speech I didn’t understand.  I guessed she was talking about the new job.  “It was supposed to be a secret.”

She smiled widely.  “There are no secrets between Al and I, are there Al?”

I looked at ‘Al’ and saw a brief look of consternation.

I was not sure Alison liked the idea of being called Al.  I tried it once and was admonished.  But it was interesting her ‘best friend forever’ was allowed that distinction when I was not.  It was, perhaps, another indicator of how far I’d slipped in her estimation.

Perhaps, I thought, it was a necessary evil.  As I understood it, the Blaine’s were our mentors at the Trump Tower, because they didn’t just let ‘anyone’ in.  I didn’t ask if the Blaine’s thought we were just ‘anyone’ before I got the job offer.

And then there was that look between Alison and Elaine, quickly stolen before Alison realized I was looking at both of them.  I was out of my depth, in a place I didn’t belong, with people I didn’t understand.  And yet, apparently, Alison did.  I must have missed the memo.

“No,” Alison said softly, stealing a glance in my direction, “No secrets between friends.”

No secrets.  Her look conveyed something else entirely.

The waiter brought champagne, Krug, and poured glasses for each of us.  It was not the cheap stuff, and I was glad I brought a couple of thousand dollars with me.  We were going to need it.

Then, a toast.

To a new job and a new life.

“When did you decide?”  Elaine was effusive at the best of times, but with the champagne, it was worse.

Alison had a strange expression on her face.  It was obvious she had told Elaine it was a done deal, even before I’d made up my mind.  Perhaps she’d assumed I might be ‘refreshingly honest’ in front of Elaine, but it could also mean she didn’t really care what I might say or do.

Instead of consternation, she looked happy, and I realized it would be churlish, even silly if I made a scene.  I knew what I wanted to say.  I also knew that it would serve little purpose provoking Elaine, or upsetting Alison.  This was not the time or the place.  Alison had been looking forward to coming here, and I was not going to spoil it.

Instead, I said, smiling, “When I woke up this morning and found Alison missing.  If she had been there, I would not have noticed the water stain on the roof above our bed, and decide there and then how much I hated the place.” I used my reassuring smile, the one I used with the customers when all hell was breaking loose, and the forest fire was out of control.  “It’s the little things.  They all add up until one day …”  I shrugged.  “I guess that one day was today.”

I saw an incredulous look pass between Elaine and Alison, a non-verbal question; perhaps, is he for real?  Or; I told you he’d come around.

I had no idea the two were so close.

“How quaint,” Elaine said, which just about summed up her feelings towards me.  I think, at that moment, I lost some brownie points.  It was all I could come up with at short notice.

“Yes,” I added, with a little more emphasis than I wanted.  “Alison was off to get some study in with one of her friends.”

“Weren’t the two of you off to the Hamptons, a weekend with some friends?” Jimmy piped up, and immediately got the ‘shut up you fool’ look, that cut that line of conversation dead.  Someone forgot to feed Jimmy his lines.

It was followed by the condescending smile from Elaine, and “I need to powder my nose.  Care to join me, Al?”

A frown, then a forced smile for her new best friend.  “Yes.”

I watched them leave the table and head in the direction of the restroom, looking like they were in earnest conversation.  I thought ‘Al’ looked annoyed, but I could be wrong.

I had to say Jimmy looked more surprised than I did.

There was that odd moment of silence between us, Jimmy still smarting from his death stare, and for me, the Alison and Elaine show.  I was quite literally gob-smacked.

I drained my champagne glass gathering some courage and turned to him.  “By the way, we were going to have a weekend away, but this legal tutorial thing came up.  You know Alison is doing her law degree.”

He looked startled when he realized I had spoken.  He was looking intently at a woman several tables over from us, one who’d obviously forgotten some basic garments when getting dressed.  Or perhaps it was deliberate.  She’d definitely had some enhancements done.

He dragged his eyes back to me.  “Yes.  Elaine said something or other about it.  But I thought she said the tutor was out of town and it had been postponed until next week.  Perhaps I got it wrong.  I usually do.”

“Perhaps I’ve got it wrong.”  I shrugged, as the dark thoughts started swirling in my head again.  “This week or next, what does it matter?”

Of course, it mattered to me, and I digested what he said with a sinking heart.  It showed there was another problem between Alison and me; it was possible she was now telling me lies.  If what he said was true and I had no reason to doubt him, where was she going tomorrow morning, and had she really been with a friend studying today?

We poured some more champagne, had a drink, then he asked, “This promotion thing, what’s it worth?”

“Trouble, I suspect.  Definitely more money, but less time at home.”

“Oh,” raised eyebrows.  Obviously, the women had not talked about the job in front of him, or, at least, not all the details.  “You sure you want to do that?”

At last the voice of reason.  “Me?  No.”

“Yet you accepted the job.”

I sucked in a breath or two while I considered whether I could trust him.  Even if I couldn’t, I could see my ship was sinking, so it wouldn’t matter what I told him, or what Elaine might find out from him.  “Jimmy, between you and me I haven’t as yet decided one way or another.  To be honest, I won’t know until I go up to Barclay’s office and he asks me the question.”

“Barclay?”

“My boss.”

“Elaine’s doing a job for a Barclay that recently moved in the tower a block down from us.  I thought I recognized the name.”

“How did Elaine get the job?”

“Oh, Alison put him onto her.”

“When?”

“A couple of months ago.  Why?”

I shrugged and tried to keep a straight face, while my insides were churning up like the wake of a supertanker.  I felt sick, faint, and wanting to die all at the same moment.  “Perhaps she said something about it, but it didn’t connect at the time.  Too busy with work I expect.  I think I seriously need to get away for a while.”

I could hardly breathe, my throat was constricted and I knew I had to keep it together.  I could see Elaine and Alison coming back, so I had to calm down.  I sucked in some deep breaths, and put my ‘manage a complete and utter disaster’ look on my face.

And I had to change the subject, quickly, so I said, “Jimmy, Elaine told Alison, who told me, you were something of a guru of the cause and effects of the global economic meltdown.  Now, I have a couple of friends who have been expounding this theory …”

Like flicking a switch, I launched into the well-worn practice of ‘running a distraction’, like at work when we needed to keep the customer from discovering the truth.  It was one of the things I was good at, taking over a conversation and pushing it in a different direction.  It was salvaging a good result from an utter disaster, and if ever there was a time that it was required, it was right here, right now.

When Alison sat down and looked at me, she knew something had happened between Jimmy and I.  I might have looked pale or red-faced, or angry or disappointed, it didn’t matter.  If that didn’t seal the deal for her, the fact I took over the dining engagement did.  She knew well enough the only time I did that was when everything was about to go to hell in a handbasket.  She’d seen me in action before and had been suitably astonished.

But I got into gear, kept the champagne flowing and steered the conversation, as much as one could from a seasoned professional like Elaine, and, I think, in Jimmy’s eyes, he saw the battle lines and knew who took the crown on points.  Neither Elaine nor Jimmy suspected anything, and if the truth be told, I had improved my stocks with Elaine.  She was at times both surprised and interested, even willing to take a back seat.

Alison, on the other hand, tried poking around the edges, and, once when Elaine and Jimmy had got up to have a cigarette outside, questioned me directly.  I chose to ignore her, and pretend nothing had happened, instead of telling her how much I was enjoying the evening.

She had her ‘secrets’.  I had mine.

At the end of the evening, when I got up to go to the bathroom, I was physically sick from the pent up tension and the implications of what Jimmy had told me.  It took a while for me to pull myself together; so long, in fact, Jimmy came looking for me.  I told him I’d drunk too much champagne, and he seemed satisfied with that excuse.  When I returned, both Alison and Elaine noticed how pale I was but neither made any comment.

It was a sad way to end what was supposed to be a delightful evening, which to a large degree it was for the other three.  But I had achieved what I set out to do, and that was to play them at their own game, watching the deception, once I knew there was a deception, as warily as a cat watches its prey.

I had also discovered Jimmy’s real calling; a professor of economics at the same University Alison was doing her law degree.  It was no surprise in the end, on a night where surprises abounded, that the world could really be that small.

We parted in the early hours of the morning, a taxi whisking us back to the Lower East Side, another taking the Blaine’s back to the Upper West Side.  But, in our case, as Alison reminded me, it would not be for much longer.  She showed concern for my health, asked me what was wrong.  It took all the courage I could muster to tell her it was most likely something I ate and the champagne, and that I would be fine in the morning.

She could see quite plainly it was anything other than what I told her, but she didn’t pursue it.  Perhaps she just didn’t care what I was playing at.

And yet, after everything that had happened, once inside our ‘palace’, the events of the evening were discarded, like her clothing, and she again reminded me of what we had together in the early years before the problems had set in.

It left me confused and lost.

I couldn’t sleep because my mind had now gone down that irreversible path that told me I was losing her, that she had found someone else, and that our marriage was in its last death throes.

And now I knew it had something to do with Barclay.

© Charles Heath 2015-2020

Sunday In New York

Skeletons in the closet, and doppelgangers

A story called “Mistaken Identity”

…

How many of us have skeletons in the closet that we know nothing about? The skeletons we know about generally stay there, but those we do not, well, they have a habit of coming out of left field when we least expect it.

In this case, when you see your photo on a TV screen with the accompanying text that says you are wanted by every law enforcement agency in Europe, you’re in a state of shock, only to be compounded by those same police, armed and menacing, kicking the door down.

I’d been thinking about this premise for a while after I discovered my mother had a boyfriend before she married my father, a boyfriend who was, by all accounts, the man who was the love of her life.

Then, in terms of coming up with an idea for a story, what if she had a child by him that we didn’t know about, which might mean I had a half brother or sister I knew nothing about. It’s not an uncommon occurrence from what I’ve been researching.

There are many ways of putting a spin on this story.

Then, in the back of my mind, I remembered a story an acquaintance at work was once telling us over morning tea, that a friend of a friend had a mother who had a twin sister and that each of the sisters had a son by the same father, without each knowing of the father’s actions, both growing up without the other having any knowledge of their half brother, only to meet by accident on the other side of the world.

It was an encounter that in the scheme of things might never have happened, and each would have remained oblivious of the other.

For one sister, the relationship was over before she discovered she was pregnant, and therefore had not told the man he was a father. It was no surprise the relationship foundered when she discovered he was also having a relationship with her sister, a discovery that caused her to cut all ties with both of them and never speak to either from that day.

It’s a story with more twists and turns than a country lane!

And a great idea for a story.

That story is called ‘Mistaken Identity’.

Writing a book in 365 days – 116/117

Days 116 and 117

Secondary characters – Writing exercise

Relation to protagonist, are they trusted, dialogue differences, what is their purpose, one thing to remember them…

…

There were a few years of animosity between Alan and Jay.  And a healthy dose of resentment.

Alan was the eldest son and, as such, should have commanded some respect and, to be fair, had been treated very well.

Until Jay was born.

It didn’t matter that Mary had popped up in between them, except that she would always be their mother’s favourite.

But from the moment Jay arrived, he had commanded all the oxygen in any room he walked into.  He could do no wrong, not even when he was deliberately bad.  And no matter what Alan did, he was always wrong, or jealous, or worse, very childish.

Alan suffered it until he could leave, which was the day after he turned 18.  He simply put what he needed into his backpack, and left for work as he did every Thursday evening, went to the bus station and took the night express to anywhere that far away from what had ceased to be his home.

Over the next five or so years, Alan kept his head down and kept himself to himself, having learned the hard way that he could not rely on anyone other than himself.

He was largely a product of his experiences, and if or when anyone asked him anything about his life, he simply said he had been orphaned in his teens, bounced around the system until he was old enough to leave and make his own way.

He finished high school.  There was no possibility of going to college. His grades and finances precluded both.  He’d initially worked as a busboy and worked his way up to waiter.  He had applied to the police academy, but they had not even deigned to write back one way or another.

Perhaps it was not in his destiny.

As for home, he had only a passing interest.  There had not been one word about his departure, and endless news about the golden boy Jay.  Basketball champ, football champ, swimming champ, Prom King, and graduated top of the class.

Of course he would.

He was everything that Alan wasn’t.  He was the pride and joy of his parents.  And in that whole article about him, there was not one word about the other son.  It was like he didn’t exist.

On the seventh anniversary of Alan’s departure, the family sat around the table as they did every Sunday.  The morning visit to the church for another of Pastor Bill’s illuminating sermons, then back home for lunch.

Those occasions after Alan left were introspective, where everyone had an opinion as to why he left.  Only Mary knew why he had gone, and where, a secret she shared with the Sheriff when her parents had requested his assistance in finding out what happened to him.

Oddly, no one believed he had become a victim of foul play, but equally oddly, no one but Mary could see that their treatment of him was going to always lead to only one eventuality.

Three times, Alan’s mother secretly hired a private detective to find him.  Three times, the detective came back to tell them he had disappeared without a trace.  Only Mary knew that on the last occasion, after telling him what she knew, he found her brother, and in accordance with her wishes, he told them one thing but gave Mary a slip of paper with her brother’s address.

That had been three days ago.

Now, sitting at the table, looking at the feast, waiting for her father to say grace.  He was at one end, her mother at the opposite end, and Jay was sitting opposite her.

It had taken every one of those seven years to hate him as much as her older brother, but for different reasons.  Jay was evil.  It was as simple as that, a boy without a conscience and no scruples whatsoever.

She, too, would have left before now, but her mother was ailing, and she couldn’t leave her, not with Jay, who wouldn’t care about her, and a father who doted more on his son than his wife.

She looked over towards her and could see she was unwell.  The latest visit to the doctor wasn’t good news.  Not knowing where Alan was only made matters worse.

“I want Alan to come home,” she said suddenly, in a tone that had more fire in it than usual.  The latest report from the detective had reduced her to tears.

“Why?” Jay muttered.  “He was a spineless moron, and showed his true colours when he left, without so much as a by your leave.”

“You think?”  Mary said, glaring at him.

“What’s your beef?”

His smug look annoyed her.  She had discovered he did nothing but trash his brother’s name to anyone who would listen.

“Tell us why Bonny went to the sheriff’s office, Jay?”

Wendy, a friend of Sally, who was a friend of Ada who worked in the sherries office, had confided that Bonny, Jay’s latest girlfriend, or if the rumours were right, ex-girlfriend, had complained that he had assaulted her.  Mary suspected it was more than just ‘assault’.

Their mother switched her glare from Jay to her husband.  “What have you two done now?”

Exactly the result Mary wanted.  Jay was looking very guilty.

“It’s just a misunderstanding,” Jay muttered, suddenly standing up, sending his chair crashing backwards.  “If this is going to be another bitch session, I’ve got better things to do.  He’s gone, get over it.”

With that said, he stomped out, slamming the door behind him.

“Now look what you’ve done,” her father said. 

“No, Jack.  This is all your fault.  If you had disciplined him years ago, we wouldn’t be here.  Whatever he’s done this time, you’re not going to smooth it over.”

He simply shook his head and followed his son out the door.

Mary reached over and took her mother’s hand in hers.  She could see the tears welling in her eyes.  Jay had finally torn their family apart.

“We’re going on a road trip.  We need to spend time together away from this place.  They can fend for themselves for a few days.”

“Where?”

“It’ll be our secret.  Go throw a few things in a bag, enough for a week or so.  We’re going now.”

“What about…”

“They can clean it up or wallow in it.  You’ve done enough for the ungrateful pigs.  It’s time they did something for you.”

It took Mary a day on the road to finally coax the truth out of her mother.  A secret so devastating that she cried all night. Cancer.  Inoperable.  And six months, perhaps a year.  Mary knew it was bad, just not this bad.

The next morning, after getting back on the road and then stopping at a diner for coffee and apple pie, Mary told her where they were going.

The change in her mother was instant and brought her back to life, the slow descent into despair suddenly arrested.

“I thought…”

“I spoke to the detective this time and told him what I knew.  I figured that Alan never wanted any of us to know where he went, but there were clues which I kept to myself, and he did tell me why he left, and swore me to secrecy.  I don’t think I need to tell you, you’re smart enough to realise what drove him away.  I heard from him a few weeks after he left to tell me he was safe, that it was best not to try and find him, and he was not coming home.”

“Were you going to tell me?  Us?”

“Not Dad or Jay.  They can live in blissful ignorance.  Besides, they’re about to find themselves in a whole world of pain.  But in your case, I had decided on a road trip later, but seeing you yesterday, I realised that I couldn’t wait.  And knowing what we know, I’m glad we’re doing it now.”

“Are you sure he will be where the detective said?  Or that he will want to see me, or you?”

“That’s why I have to initially go by myself.  I know he will be surprised to see me, and when I explain the circumstances, he will agree to see you.”

“Perhaps he might be annoyed with me not trying to reach out earlier than this?”

“I think if he wanted to see you, he knew where you lived.  It might not be you personally that kept him away, but to be fair, you didn’t stop Jay.”

“No.  You’re right.  I didn’t.  For a long time, I didn’t have the courage, and now that I have, I hope it’s not too late to right that wrong.  I’ve decided I’m not going back. I don’t want to spend my last days on God’s earth with either of them.”

…

©  Charles Heath  2025

In a word: Holiday

Some call time off from work whether it is for a day, a few days, a couple of weeks, or maybe longer, a holiday.

Or leave, leave of absence, annual leave, or long service leave.

Others may call it a vacation.

It depends on what part of the world you live in.

But the end result is the same, you do not go to work, so you stay home and do all those things that have mounted up, you drive up, and for some reason, it is always up, to the cabin, for a little hunting shooting fishing, or you get on a plane or a ship and try to get as far away from home and work as possible.

That’s called going overseas. It seems if there is an ocean between where you go and where you live, no one will be able to disturb you.

Sorry, I bet you didn’t leave that mobile phone or iPad at home did you?

But, of course, there are a few other obscure references to the word holiday.

For instance,

It can be a day set aside to commemorate an event or a person, a day when you are not expected to work, e.g. Memorial Day, Christmas Day, or Good Friday. In Britain, they used to be called Bank Holidays.

It can be a specified period that you may be excused from completing a task or doing something such as getting a one-year tax exemption, which might also be called a one-year tax holiday.

Yes, now that is an obscure reference, particularly when no tax department would ever grant anyone an exemption of any sort.